According to sources familiar with the strategy shift, Donald Trump and his campaign are looking to capitalize on the momentum gained from their week of daily counterprogramming events and their attempt to deflect attention away from their new opponent. In the run-up to November, they intend to aggressively ramp up the former president’s schedule, improve his debate abilities, and develop a new ground-game strategy linked to the early voting states.
In and of itself, the shift in strategy is a recognition that the Trump campaign has had difficulty adjusting to the rapidly evolving political climate since Vice President Joe Biden’s abrupt withdrawal from the race four months prior to the election.
Going forward, Trump’s schedule will resemble the last week more than the twenty months before it. During that time, the Republican nominee visited a different battleground every day. One Trump advisor projected that the former president will hold “several events each week, if not daily” through November, while another indicated that the president will frequently visit two states in a single day.
“Imagine Trump with a few extra steroids,” the person offered. “We’ll need everyone’s help.”
In addition to his accelerated agenda, Trump is gearing up for his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on September 10.
The former president is gathering Republican legislators, specialists on policy, and outside supporters in a clandestine meeting ahead of the high-stakes confrontation. According to AWN’s sources, the “policy discussions” that the Trump campaign has been holding in preparation for the debate resemble the sessions that the former president had in the weeks preceding his debate with Biden on June 27.
This time around, it will be the same. Last time, it was effective for him. “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” a Trump adviser advised.
The adviser went on to say that Trump, who dislikes and has denied the need for formal preparation like mock debates, finds it more comfortable to research his opponent and adjust his message in a less formal context.
Case in point: Tulsi Gabbard, a former Hawaii congresswoman, has been secretly assisting Trump in his efforts to comprehend Harris’s arguing style.
During the 2020 Democratic presidential debate, Gabbard was one of several candidates who challenged Harris. According to Trump’s advisors, Senator Harris’ campaign was weakened by Gabbard’s criticisms of her, especially the investigation into her past as a prosecutor.
In response to the surge in Democratic enthusiasm following Harris’s replacement of Biden as party chair, Trump is preparing to ramp up his campaign activity in the coming weeks, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke with AWN. This heightened pace goes far beyond previous preparations. This week’s schedule by Trump exemplifies this point.
The ex-president will head to Detroit on Monday to speak at the National Guard Association’s convention; Thursday, he’ll visit Michigan for an economic lecture; and that evening, he’ll take part in a town hall in Wisconsin. His schedule for this coming Friday includes a rally in Pennsylvania before he makes his way to Washington, DC, to deliver a speech at the conservative Moms for Liberty group’s “Joyful Warriors” summit.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Trump pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Travis Tunis published a report projecting an increase in Harris’s poll numbers following the convention. Fabrizio, in particular, pointed the finger at positive media coverage of the vice president for this predicted increase.
“Another consideration is that, although the media will pay attention to national polls, we must remain focused on what really matters — the polling in the states where our candidates are running for office,” the document stated. “Winning these states is how we get to 270—it’s our goal.”
Following a difficult period in his campaign, Trump has likewise upped his pace. A flurry of conversations over the plan for the new reality ensued after the former president’s irrational reaction to the change in opponent. Those closest to Trump have advised him to stop attacking people and start focusing on policies. They also want him to visit voters more frequently.
Even his event locations occasionally baffled Republicans; for example, he would go to strongly blue New Jersey and intensely red Montana, with whole months passing between his visits to important states.
According to multiple top advisers who spoke with AWN, the Trump team is now treating the time after the Democratic National Convention as a full-on sprint to November. Corey Lewandowski, who was Trump’s first campaign manager in 2016, is one of several advisers that the former president’s team has brought on board to bolster its political operation.
North Carolina and Pennsylvania, two states that are considered to be in the thick of things politically, and states that are leaning toward one party or the other, like Minnesota and Florida, will be Trump’s primary targets going forward, since these states will have mail-in ballots sent out and early voting places opened first. The Trump campaign intends to increase its local presence in certain states and send surrogates to host voter turnout rallies.
In addition to his larger rallies, Trump is set to hold smaller gatherings focused on targeted messaging, continuing a trend he started last week. The campaign is hoping that these events will help them focus their candidacy. These events will be smaller, more intimate gatherings with fewer people, which Trump’s supporters are hoping will allow for a more concentrated effort, in contrast to his massive, all-day rallies.
However, last week, the shortcomings of those endeavors became more and more obvious. Those closest to the former president have long recognized that Trump’s natural tendency to go from script and vent his frustrations cannot be altered.
“He’s 78 years old and has never been someone easily controlled,” one Trump ally told AWN.
At a rally in North Carolina that was supposed to be a speech about national security, Trump asked the audience if they wanted him to keep attacking his opponents or focus on program. It became apparent that they liked the former, so Trump made fun of his own team.
“My advisors are out,” he quipped, before continuing, “No, we prefer to keep it on policy, but it can be challenging when you’re under constant attack.”
While delivering a speech on public safety in Michigan, Trump continued to criticize Harris without addressing the proposals that his staff had briefed reporters on beforehand, such as a plan to put child rapists and traffickers to death. A campaign official explained that Trump was “saving those” until after the Democratic National Convention in response to a question about the non-announcement of the additional policies hinted at by his team.
The events of the last week, however, were among the busiest in Trump’s third run for the presidency. Trump has kept his campaign schedule quite light since he essentially secured the GOP nomination in March. He holds one or two rallies each week and spends large periods of time away from the public eye.
When Trump’s opponent was an unpopular 81-year-old incumbent who had trouble drawing audiences, the timetable didn’t seem to be an issue. But a shift was required when Harris and her campaign mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, spread out throughout battlegrounds and attracted enormous crowds.